Scary Madison Takes a Shortcut, Also Makes a Horror Movie

When Adam Sandler's Happy Madison production house announced they were forming a horror studio under the oh-so-clever guise of Scary Madison, I and every other horror fan old enough to ace a middle school reading comprehension test thought to themselves, "No good can come of this." Their first at bat would bring to the plate The Shortcut, written by first timers Dan Hannon and Scott Sandler and directed by Nicholaus Goossen, the man responsible for the cold sore upon cinema that is Grandma's Boy.

We all know the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover," but I'm not a subscriber. The cover is part of the experience as well, be it book, film, or The Shortcut. People that wholly ignore a cover are discounting the art behind capturing the essence of a work and distilling it into an attractive, communicative tableau. Even if what is contained therein is complete crap, I still have respect for the bluff, for the marketer who can pour cough syrup over one's common sense and lull in a purchase with a nice bit of creative misdirection.

Which brings us to the DVD cover art for The Shortcut found by way of Dread Central. You know what? I was wrong about Scary Madison. What this cover art represents is scary. Someone thought this was a good idea. Just think about that for a second. There is nothing attractive or creative about it, but it sure is communicating something. And no, it isn't simply that it looks like it was made by the same person who did the equally bland cover for Somebody Help Me.

Before moving on let me note that I now hate myself for knowing straight to DVD movies so well that I can find reference points for other awful covers.